Saudi Arabia’s MBC launches new video streaming service

MBC Group Chairman Waleed Al-Ibrahim
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Updated 17 January 2020
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Saudi Arabia’s MBC launches new video streaming service

  • MBC’s top-rated channels are also included in the new Shahid, which includes nine HD channels, streamed live, as well as a catch-up service

LONDON: MBC Group has unveiled the all-new version of its video on demand (VOD) service, Shahid.

It comes as the Saudi-owned broadcaster seeks to boost its original content to fend off growing competition from global players such as Netflix and Amazon.

“As we look ahead, we strive to take control of our own narratives, showcasing our stories to the rest of the world through the very best in original films, series, and other media content, produced and marketed via MBC Studios,” MBC Group Chairman Waleed Al-Ibrahim said.

“We’re immensely proud to provide the region with an advanced digital platform that is on par with the best in the world. Shahid is a global brand that is worth watching.”




Faces at the Shahid relaunch, from left: Seba Moubarak, Tamer Habib, Ahmed Malek and Amr Youssef; MBC Managing Director Johannes Larcher; Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, MBC Chairman Waleed Al-Ibrahim and Mona Al-Marri.

Recently appointed group CEO Marc Antoine d’Halluin revealed plans to raise investment into home-grown drama productions at the broadcasting group.

Shahid Premieres will focus on first-look exclusives from cinema and television, while Shahid Originals will offer local and regional productions, with long-form content such as drama series as well as short-form content.

Shahid also announced a content partnership with Disney and Fox as well as streaming platform Spotify.


Israeli reservist rams vehicle into Palestinian man praying in West Bank

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Israeli reservist rams vehicle into Palestinian man praying in West Bank

JERUSALEM: An Israeli reservist soldier rammed his vehicle into a Palestinian man as he prayed on a roadside in ​the occupied West Bank on Thursday, after earlier firing shots in the area, the Israeli military said.
“Footage was received of an armed individual running over a Palestinian individual,” it said in a statement, adding the individual was a reservist ‌and his ‌military service had ‌been terminated.
The ⁠reservist ​acted “in severe ‌violation of his authority” and his weapon had been confiscated, the military said.
Israeli media reported that he was being held under house arrest.
The Israeli police did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The ⁠Palestinian man went to hospital for checks after ‌the attack, but was unhurt ‍and is now ‍at home.
Video which aired on Palestinian ‍TV shows a man in civilian clothing with a gun slung over his shoulder driving an off-road vehicle into a man praying on ​the side of the road.
This year ​was one of the most violent on ⁠record for Israeli civilian attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, according to United Nations data that shows more than 750 injuries.
More than a thousand Palestinians were killed in the West Bank between October 7, 2023 and October 17, 2025, mostly in operations by security forces and some by settler violence, according to the UN In ‌the same period, 57 Israelis were killed in Palestinian attacks.